Virtual Addressing For Mesh Networks

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks, a node in a mesh network publishes packets and/or subscribes to packets using a virtual address that is derived from a unique identifier. The unique identifier has a larger address space than the destination address field of the packet. The unique identifier and an application key are hashed to elide the unique identifier from the destination address that is transmitted in the packet over the mesh network. A node receiving the packet can determine that the address is a virtual address, and disambiguate the destination address to determine that the virtual address corresponds to a unique identifier known to the receiving node.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application claiming priority under35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/232,040, filed onAug. 9, 2018, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/266,246, filed Dec. 11, 2015,the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Using wireless mesh networking to connect devices to each other, and tocloud-based services, is increasingly popular for sensing environmentalconditions, controlling equipment, and providing information and alertsto users. A mesh network device may have a number of capabilities thatan application may want to access, such as receiving sensor data orcontrolling an actuator. Addressing in mesh networks is typically doneat the device or node level. Addressing an individual capability withina mesh network device increases the amount of addressing payload in meshnetwork packets in order to specify an address for the capability andthe node. However many devices on mesh networks are designed to operatefor extended periods of time on battery power, which limits theavailable computing, user interface, and radio resources in the devices.Increasing the size of addresses, to address the node and a capability,in turn leads to transmitting larger packets over the mesh network,which increases power consumption and reduces network capacity.

Many applications are structured to send requests for data in order toreceive a response that includes the requested data. Sending periodicrequests for sensor data from an application, on one mesh network deviceto another mesh network device, increases overall network traffic asboth requests and responses are transmitted over the mesh network.Network addressing techniques limit the efficiency and flexibility ofaccessing information and controls while maintaining power efficiencyand secure communications over mesh networks.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce simplified concepts of virtualaddressing for mesh networks, generally related to addressing androuting. The simplified concepts are further described below in theDetailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify essentialfeatures of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use indetermining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Virtual addressing for mesh networks, generally related to addressingpackets in a mesh network, is described. In embodiments, a node in themesh network hashes a unique identifier (UID) to form a UID hash andgenerates a key identifier that encrypts an application key. The nodeforms a virtual address that includes a portion of the UID hash. Thenode then inserts the formed virtual address in a destination addressfield in a header of a packet, and transmits the packet over the meshnetwork.

Virtual addressing for mesh networks, generally related to addressingpackets in a mesh network, is described. In embodiments, a system isdescribed that includes a destination node that receives a packet over amesh network and determines from an address type indicator in thereceived packet that the destination address field in a header of thepacket includes a virtual address. The destination node disambiguatesthe virtual address in the received packet using a known uniqueidentifier (UID) to determine that the virtual address corresponds tothe known UID. The destination node authenticates a packet payload usingthe UID as additional data in the authentication.

Virtual addressing for mesh networks, generally related to addressingpackets in a mesh network, is described. In embodiments, a source nodedevice of a mesh network is commissioned with a unique identifier (UID)associated with an application. The node inserts data from theapplication into an application payload of a packet and generates avirtual address for the destination address of the packet, using the UIDassociated with the application in the generation of the virtualaddress. The source node inserts the generated virtual address into adestination address field of the header of the packet. The source nodecan then transmit the packet over the mesh network to publish the datato one or more destination nodes subscribing to the data published tothe virtual address.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks are described withreference to the following drawings. The same numbers are usedthroughout the drawings to reference like features and components:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example mesh network system in which variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example environment in which various embodimentsof virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.

FIG. 3 illustrates a more detailed example environment in which variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example mesh network packet for variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method of virtual addressing for meshnetworks in accordance with embodiments of the techniques describedherein.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example method of virtual addressing for meshnetworks in accordance with embodiments of the techniques describedherein.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method of virtual addressing for meshnetworks related to publishing data and subscribing to data usingvirtual addresses in a mesh network in accordance with embodiments ofthe techniques described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example environment in which a mesh network can beimplemented in accordance with embodiments of the techniques describedherein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example mesh network device that can beimplemented in a mesh network environment in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the techniques described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Wireless mesh networks are communication networks having wireless nodesconnected in a mesh topology that provides reliable and redundantcommunication paths for traffic within the mesh network. Wireless meshnetworks use multiple radio links, or hops, to forward traffic betweendevices within the mesh network. This provides coverage for areas largerthan the area covered by a single radio link.

Wireless mesh networks can be based on proprietary technologies, orstandards-based technologies. For example, wireless mesh networks may bebased on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which defines physical (PHY) layerand Media Access Control (MAC) layer features and services for use byapplications at higher layers of a mesh networking stack. Upper-layerapplications rely on these standards-defined services to supportaddressing and routing of packet data to support application-levelcommunication across a mesh network and between the mesh network andexternal networks.

Similarly other wireless mesh network technologies, such as Bluetooth®,Thread®, ZigBee®, Z-Wave®, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), have similarlayered networking stacks. For example, BLE defines an applicationlayer, a transport layer, a network layer, and a bearer layer. Thebearer layer defines how network messages are transported between nodesof the mesh network. The network layer defines how messages areaddressed to mesh network nodes, defines the network message format thatis transported by the bearer layer, and defines how the applicationpayload is included with the network message. The transport layerdefines the format of the application payload and how the applicationpayload is encrypted and authenticated. The application layer defineshow applications use the transport layer and defines the operations andbehavior of applications.

In some wireless standards, a particular capability or a group ofcapabilities in a node may be included in a profile or a model for aparticular function or application. To address a specific capability, anidentifier of the profile or the profile and the capability within theprofile are included in the payload of a message to the node. Includingthis additional information profile and capability identificationincreases the amount of data that is transmitted to send a command orreceive data.

While many technologies have been developed for addressing and routingpackets in networks, these technologies address packets to the node ormesh network device, and not to a particular capability or sub-addresswithin the node. Addresses for nodes in a mesh network may be globallyunique, such as radio addresses, or addresses may be assigned locallywithin a particular mesh network, such as by a leader or controllernode, or by using random processes with collision detection. Assigningexactly one globally unique network address to a node has benefits forscalability of flood routing, as relay caches can track whether amessage has been heard from a particular node, and squelch excessforwarding of flood messages. However, these approaches assign anaddress to the device or node as a whole without assigning uniqueaddresses (sub-addresses) to any of the particular capabilities witheach mesh network node.

For example, a mesh network may include a node (i.e., a mesh networkdevice) with a number of capabilities for sensing and/or actuation. Anapplication running on another node may only be interested in receivingdata from one of a number of sensors in the node, controlling a singleactuator in the node, controlling a combination of some of the actuatorsin the node, or controlling any arbitrary combination of actuators in anumber of nodes. Adding additional addressing information to a meshnetwork packet to facilitate sub-addressing the capabilities in thenodes increases packet length, which in turn increases transmission timefor the packet, increases power consumption, and decreases networkefficiency.

Addressing a data packet based on a unique identifier (UID) that isunique to a capability or a sub-address of a node provides addressingthat is finer grained than addressing at the node level. The uniqueidentifiers (UIDs) are compressed to a shorter-form virtual address thatis inserted in a destination address field of a header of the meshnetwork packet. By eliding the longer-form UID in the mesh networkpacket and using the virtual address, network efficiency is improved andbattery life for the nodes is increased.

Applications on a node that are structured to send periodic requests forsensor data to another node increase overall network traffic as bothrequests and responses are transmitted over the mesh network. Byassociating one or more capabilities of a node with a UID, anapplication publishes information for the capability, such as a sensorreading, using the virtual address. Packets with virtual addresses arerelayed across the mesh network, so that any node that requires thesensor reading subscribes to that virtual address to receive theinformation. By publishing and subscribing with virtual addresses,requests for information are reduced and network efficiency is improved.

Virtual addresses are also associated with capabilities in nodes thathave actuator controls. For example, an application for anetwork-connected power strip associates a UID with each switched socketin the power strip. Any node can then send a control command to thevirtual address of any socket. Also, sockets in a single power strip ormultiple power strips may be grouped together and associated with a UIDto let an application control the group of sockets with a single commandto the virtual address associated with the UID for the group of sockets.

While features and concepts of the described systems and methods forvirtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented in any number ofdifferent environments, systems, devices, and/or various configurations,embodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks are described in thecontext of the following example devices, systems, and configurations.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example mesh network system 100 in which variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.The mesh network 100 is a wireless mesh network that includes nodes 102.The nodes 102 are mesh network devices, as described below with respectto FIG. 9, which include a mesh network interface for communication overthe mesh network 100. The nodes 102 receive and transmit packet dataover the mesh network interface. The nodes 102 also route, forward,and/or relay packets across the mesh network 100.

Each node 102 may include one or more capabilities, such as a sensorthat provides readings or an actuator that can be controlled. Forexample, at 104 the node 102 is a node with a sensor. The node 102 withthe sensor at 104 publishes readings from the sensor to a UID (shown asUID 1 at 104) that is associated with the sensor and readings from thesensor. Other nodes 102 that have applications interested in receivingthe sensor readings, subscribe to UID 1 to receive the sensor readingsover the mesh network 100.

At 106, a different node 102 has two actuator controls, each of which isassociated with a UID (UID 2 and UID 3 at 106). Any node 102 that wantsto control the actuators at 106, addresses a mesh network packet to thevirtual address for the UID that is associated with the specificactuator, and includes an application payload with the settings for theactuator control. Any node 102 may have any number and combination ofsensors and/or actuator controls. For example a different node 102includes four actuator controls at 108 (UID 4, UID 5, UID 6, and UID 7)and a sensor reading (UID 8).

The assignment of UIDs to capabilities within the nodes 102 facilitatesestablishing connections at the application level in the nodes 102,where information, such as sensor readings and/or control settings, canbe published to a UID and/or subscribed to using a UID. The publishingand subscribing of information by UID creates a software bus associatedwith each UID to exchange information between applications over the meshnetwork 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example environment 200 in which variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.The environment 200 illustrates additional ways in which UIDs may beassigned across one or more of the nodes 102 in the mesh network 100, asshown and described with reference to FIG. 1.

A controller node 202 (e.g., an example of a node 102 in the meshnetwork 100) can control functions in various other nodes 102. For thesake of example, the controller node 202 is implemented as a lightingcontroller that is designed to control lights in lighting nodes 204,206, and/or 208. UIDs are assigned to various lights and/or combinationsof lights in one or more of the lighting nodes 204, 206, and/or 208.Individual lights in the lighting node 204 are assigned to UID 10, UID11, UID 12, and UID 13. The controller node 202 controls the individuallights in the lighting node 204 by publishing control commands in a meshnetwork packet that is addressed to the respective virtual address ofthe UID of the light(s) being controlled.

Virtual addresses can also be used to address combinations ofcapabilities in a node 102. For example, the controller node 202 cancontrol light 3 and light 4 in the lighting node 204 by publishing acommand in a packet that is addressed to the virtual address for UID 14,which is assigned to controlling the combination of light 3 and light 4with a single command.

Virtual addresses can also be used to address combinations ofcapabilities in multiple nodes 102. For example, the controller node 202can control light 1 in the lighting node 204, lights 7 and 8 in thelighting node 206, and lights 10 and 11 in the lighting node 208 bypublishing a command that is addressed to the virtual address for UID15, which is assigned to controlling this combination of lights in thelighting nodes 204, 206, and 208. By publishing a command to a singlevirtual address, the controller node 202 sends a single mesh networkpacket to control the lights in the multiple lighting nodes 204, 206,and 208. The packet is relayed across the mesh network 100 in anysuitable way, such as flooding the network by relaying the packetthrough multiple nodes 102 (not shown in FIG. 2 for the sake of clarity)of the mesh network 100 from the controller node 202 to the lightingnodes 204, 206, and 208.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example environment 300 in which variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks can be implemented.The environment 300 includes selected nodes 102 from the mesh network100 to illustrate techniques of virtual addressing for mesh networks ingreater detail.

Environment 300 illustrates two nodes 102 of the mesh network 100, as asensor node 302, and an actuator node 304. The sensor node 302 and theactuator node 304 are shown as including a network stack 306 that isincluded in all of the nodes 102. The network stack 306 includes anapplication layer 308, a transport layer 310, a network layer 312, and abearer layer 314. The network stack 306 is shown in this example withfour layers, but as is well known, the network stack 306 mayalternatively have fewer or more layers. The operations described withrespect to specific layers below may alternatively be performed at otherlayers, partitioned between multiple layers, or combined from multiplelayers to a single layer.

The sensor node 302 and the actuator node 304 include one or moreapplications 316 that use the network stack 306 to communicate over themesh network 100. The application 316 is a logical grouping of relatedfunctions, which may also described as a model, a profile, a cluster,and so forth. For example, the application 316 in the sensor node 302 isa sensor application that manages functions of reading a sensor,processing the data read from the sensor, and publishing sensor readingsto the UID associated with the sensor reading. The sensor reading of thesensor node 302 is published to the virtual address associated with theUID.

The application 316, in the sensor node 302, publishes the sensorreading by passing application data that will be included in a meshnetwork packet to the application layer 308 of the network stack 306.The application layer 308 defines how the application 316 uses thetransport layer 310. The application layer 308 passes the applicationdata and configuration information to the transport layer 310. Thetransport layer 310 defines how the application payload is encrypted andauthenticated, as described in greater detail below.

The transport layer 310 sends the application payload to the networklayer 312. The network layer 312 determines how the mesh network packetis addressed and how the application payload is included in the meshnetwork packet. The network layer 312 forms a destination address (DST)for the mesh network packet. If the application 316 provides a UID forthe virtual address of the mesh network packet, the virtual address isgenerated, as described in detail below. The generated virtual addressis inserted into the DST field of the packet. The network layer 312sends the mesh network packet, including the virtual address andapplication payload, to the bearer layer 314. The bearer layer 314transmits the mesh network packet over the mesh network 100.

The actuator node 304 receives the mesh network packet from the meshnetwork 100 at the bearer layer 314. The bearer layer 314 passes thereceived mesh network packet to the network layer 312. The network layer312 determines that the destination address is a virtual address anddisambiguates the virtual address in the destination address field ofthe mesh network packet to determine that the UID may correspond to thevirtual address. If there is a non-zero probability that the UID is apossible match for any UIDs known to (i.e., subscribed to by) theactuator node 304, the network layer 312 sends the application payloadfrom the packet to the transport layer 310. The UID may be comparedagainst a list of precomputed virtual addresses that are known to theactuator node 304, by using a hash table, a binary search, a linearsearch, and so forth. The transport layer 310 performs theauthentication process on the application payload, to confirm thevirtual address is correctly addressing the actuator node 304, asdescribed in detail below. After confirming the authenticity and thevalidity of the application payload, the transport layer 310 sends theapplication payload to the application 316 at the application layer 308in the actuator node 304.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example mesh network packet 400 for variousembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks techniques. Theexample packet 400 includes a number of fields, the contents of whichare determined by the various layers of the network stack 306. Theexample packet 400 may be any type of wireless communication packet,such as a BLE advertisement packet, a ZigBee packet, an IEEE 802.15.4packet, and so forth. The various fields in the packet 400 are shown forillustrative purposes and may vary in length and/or location within thepacket 400.

A network identifier (Network ID) 402 may include various informationadded to the packet 400 by the bearer layer 314 and/or network layer312. The network identifier 402 field may include synchronizationinformation, such as a preamble and/or training sequence, a networkidentifier value, a packet priority, a network initialization vector,and so forth.

A Time-To-Live (TTL) 404 field includes a value that indicates thenumber of times the packet 400 may be forwarded across the mesh network100. A sequence number (SEQ) 406 field includes a value that isincremented in the network layer 312 for every packet transmitted byeach node 102. A receiving node 102 uses the sequence number 406 toreorder the packets 400 that are received out of order at the receivingnode 102. The SEQ 406 is also used in the generation of nonce valuesthat are used for replay protection and security purposes in the meshnetwork 100. A source address (SRC) 408 field includes the address ofthe source node 102 of the packet 400.

A destination address (DST) 410 field includes the destination addressfor the packet 400. The destination address 410 may include any one of anumber of different address types, such as a local address, a deviceaddress, a group address, a virtual address, a unicast address, amulticast address, a broadcast address, and so forth.

The network identifier 402, the TTL 404, the SEQ 406, the SRC 408 andthe DST 410 fields may be collectively referred to as the header (orpacket header) of the packet 400. The packet header may include otherfields as defined by any particular networking technology.

An application payload 412 includes data defined by an application 316at the application layer 308. The application payload 412 may beencrypted using any suitable encryption techniques, such as AdvancedEncryption Standard Counter with CBC-MAC (AES-CCM). A transport messageintegrity check (MIC_(trans)) 414 authenticates the application payload412. A network message integrity check (MIC_(net)) 416 authenticates thedestination address 410. The MIC_(trans) 414 and the MIC_(net) 416 aregenerated using any suitable hashing technique, such as AES-CCM. Anidentifier of an application key, used to encrypt the applicationpayload 412, is included in a transport control field (TCF) 422.

The destination address 410 may be any one of various types of addressesincluding the virtual address. The DST 410 includes an address type 418field that indicates the type of address in the DST 410. For example,the address type 418 is a bit field of any suitable length to label thetype of the address in the DST 410. By way of example and notlimitation, the address type 418 is the first two bits of thedestination address 410, where a value of “11” indicates that thedestination address 410 is a group address; a value of “10” indicatesthat the DST 410 is the virtual address, and so forth.

When the address type 418 indicates that the DST 410 is a virtualaddress, the DST 410 includes a UID hash 420. By way of example and notlimitation, the bit field for the UID hash 420 is fourteen bits long,resulting in 16,384 possible values for the UID hash 420. The DST 410 isthe concatenation of the address type 418 and the UID hash 420, shown inbinary form as “0b 10vv vvvv vvvv vvvv,” where “v” is a bit in the UIDhash 420. Other lengths for the address type 418 and the UID hash 420are contemplated.

To provide globally unique addresses to mesh network devices, thepossible address space for nodes 102 is large enough to avoid meshnetwork interface address collisions between any two mesh networkdevices. Thus the address space represented in the UID is larger thancan be directly addressed in the DST 410 in the packet 400. The UID isany arbitrary length, shared, unique identifier that is known to allnodes 102 and/or applications 316 using the UID. For example, the UIDmay be a 128-bit Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), a 64-bit ExtendedUnique Identifier (EUI-64), a 48-bit Media Access Control address(MAC-48), a 32-bit address, a 128-bit IPv6 address, a radio interfaceaddress, a null-terminated string or label, a JPEG image, and so forth.

Each UID is commissioned out-of-band of the mesh network 100 to thenodes 102. The applications 316 and the network stack 306 in the eachnode 102, which publish and subscribe using the UID, have access to theUID(s) commissioned to that node 102. Further description ofcommissioning techniques for the nodes 102 is out of the scope of thisdescription.

To support a large number of applications using UIDs, while using theshorter DST 410 field for the virtual addresses, the UID is hashed toproduce the UID hash 420 included in the DST 410. The UID is elided fromthe DST 410 by the hashing of the UID and a virtual addresscryptographic salt to produce a short-form virtual address that isinserted into the DST 410 field of the packet 400. The hashing may beperformed using any suitable cryptographic technique, such asCipher-based Message Authentication Code (CMAC) and the like. The UIDhash 420 in the DST 410 is generated by hashing the UID:

UID-Hash=CMAC(UID,vtad)  (1)

where vtad is the virtual address cryptographic salt.

The application payload 412 is authenticated and encrypted at thetransport layer 310 before transmission using AES-CCM. For example, theapplication payload is encrypted and the MIC_(trans) 414 is generatedaccording to:

encAppData,MIC_(trans)=AES-CCM(AppKey,applicationnonce,AppPayload,UID)  (2)

where encAppData is the application payload 412, MIC_(trans) is an thetransport message integrity check 414, AppPayload is the unencrypteddata for the application payload 412 provided by the application 316 andthe application nonce is:

application nonce=SEQ∥SRC∥DST∥IV Index  (3)

where SEQ is the SEQ 406, SRC is the SRC 408, DST is the DST 410, and IVIndex is a network initialization vector, a portion of which is includedin the network identifier 402. The network initialization vectorincrements periodically to assure that the application nonce isguaranteed to be fresh. The network initialization vector is incrementedto safely reset the SEQ 406 when the range of sequence numbers isexhausted.

The application key identifier included in the TCF 422 is generated byhashing the application key twice:

key-identifier=CMAC(CMAC(AppKey,smat),smak)  (4)

where AppKey is the application key, smat is a key-identifiercryptographic salt, and smak is a virtual address key cryptographicsalt.

At the network layer 312 the network message integrity check 416 isgenerated to authenticate the destination address 410. The networkmessage integrity check 416 is set by the network layer 312 at each node102 that transmits or relays the packet 400. The network messageintegrity check 416 is generated by:

MIC_(net)=AES-CCM(Encryption Key,networknonce,DST∥TransportPayload)  (5)

where Encryption Key is an encryption key derived from a network key andthe network nonce is:

network nonce=TTL∥SEQ∥SRC∥IV Index  (6)

where TTL is TTL 404.

When hashing the UID address space into the smaller virtual address,there is a probability that there will be collisions between some of theresulting virtual addresses. With fourteen bits allocated to the UIDhash 420 that contains the hash of the UID, the probability of acollision between the UID hashes 420 is one in 16,384. After receptionand validation of the packet 400 at the bearer layer 314 and the networklayer 312, the packet 400 is passed to the transport layer 310 of thereceiving node 102. The transport layer 310 disambiguates the DST 410 toconfirm that the message in the packet 400 authenticates against a knownapplication key and a known UID. The transport layer 310 disambiguatesthe DST 410, using equation (4), to compare the application keydecrypted from the key identifier 420 against one or more applicationkeys known to the receiving node 102 and using equation (1), todetermine that the decrypted UID is one of one or more UIDs known to thereceiving node 102.

The transport layer 310 uses the MIC_(trans) 414 to authenticate thatthe received application payload. The transport layer 310 compares theMIC_(trans) 414 in the packet 400 to a result of a calculation usingequation (2). If the result of the comparison does not match, theapplication payload is discarded. If the comparison results in a match,then the authentication indicates that the received application payloadis intended for the application associated with the known UID and theapplication payload has not been altered.

If the destination address authenticates against a known application keyand a known UID, and the application payload is authenticated, themessage is passed from the transport layer 310 to the application layer308. If there is no match to a known application key and/or UID, thereceived packet 400 is silently discarded.

The combination of using the MIC_(trans) 414 and the UID hash 420results in a low probability of erroneous application payloadinformation reaching the application 316, while reducing the size of thedestination address required to communicate the UID. This low errorprobability results from assigning virtual addresses based on largerandom numbers to dynamically pair mesh network nodes 102, whileeliminating the need to maintain a central entity in the mesh network100 to statically assign unique addresses and ensure no duplicateaddresses are assigned. For example, there are 2³² possible values forthe 32-bit MIC_(trans) 414 and 2¹⁴ possible values for a fourteen-bitUID hash 420. The resulting probability of erroneous application payloadreaching an application is 1 in 2⁴⁶.

Example methods 500 through 700 are described with reference torespective FIGS. 5-7 in accordance with one or more embodiments ofvirtual addressing for mesh networks. Generally, any of the components,modules, methods, and operations described herein can be implementedusing software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manualprocessing, or any combination thereof. Some operations of the examplemethods may be described in the general context of executableinstructions stored on computer-readable storage memory that is localand/or remote to a computer processing system, and implementations caninclude software applications, programs, functions, and the like.Alternatively or in addition, any of the functionality described hereincan be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logiccomponents, such as, and without limitation, Field-programmable GateArrays (FPGAs), Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs),Application-specific Standard Products (ASSPs), System-on-a-chip systems(SoCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates example method(s) 500 of virtual addressing for meshnetworks. The order in which the method blocks are described are notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement amethod, or an alternate method.

At block 502, a node generates a key identifier that identifies anencryption key associated with an application key. For example, a node102 of the mesh network 100 uses a hash function to hash an applicationkey with the key-identifier cryptographic salt to form an intermediatehash of the application key. The node 102 uses the hash function to hashthe intermediate hash of the application key with the virtual addresskey cryptographic salt to form the key identifier.

At block 504, the node hashes a unique identifier (UID) to form a UIDhash. For example, the node 102 uses the hash function to hash a UIDwith the virtual address cryptographic salt to form a UID hash 420.

At block 506, the node sets a value of an address type indicator toindicate that a destination address in a mesh network packet is avirtual address. For example, the node 102 sets a value of the addresstype 418 to indicate that the DST 410 is a virtual address.

At block 508, the node forms a virtual address that includes the addresstype and the UID hash. For example, the node 102 concatenates theaddress type 418 and the UID hash 420 to form a virtual address.

At block 510, the node inserts the virtual address into a destinationaddress field of a header of the mesh network packet, at 512 the nodeinserts the key identifier into a transport control field, and at 514,the node transmits the mesh network packet over a mesh network. Forexample, the node 102 inserts the virtual address into the DST 410 fieldof the packet 400, inserts the key identifier into the TCF 422, andtransmits the packet 400 over the mesh network 100.

FIG. 6 illustrates example method(s) 600 of virtual addressing for meshnetworks. The order in which the method blocks are described are notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement amethod, or an alternate method.

At block 602, a node receives a packet over a mesh network, and at 604the node determines that an address type indicator indicates that thedestination address field of the packet includes a virtual address. Forexample, a node 102 receives a packet 400 over the mesh network 100. Thenode 102 determines from the value in the address type 418 included inthe DST 410 that the destination address in the DST 410 is a virtualaddress.

At block 606, the node disambiguates the virtual address in the receivedpacket using a unique identifier (UID). For example, the node 102disambiguates a UID hash 420 in the DST 410 by using a UID known to thenode 102. The node 102 hashes the known UID and compares the result ofthe hash operation with the UID hash 420 in the received packet 400 todisambiguate the virtual address. The UID may be compared against a listof precomputed virtual addresses that are known to the actuator node304, by using a hash table, a binary search, a linear search, and soforth.

At block 608, the node authenticates an application payload in thereceived packet using the UID as additional data. For example, the node102 authenticates the application payload 412 in the packet 400 usingthe UID known to the node 102. The node 102 hashes the applicationpayload 412 using the known UID as additional data for the hashoperation and compares the result of the hash operation with aMIC_(trans) 414 in the received packet to authenticate the applicationpayload 412.

FIG. 7 illustrates example method(s) 700 of virtual addressing for meshnetworks related to publishing data and subscribing to data usingvirtual addresses in a mesh network. The order in which the methodblocks are described are not intended to be construed as a limitation,and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in anyorder to implement a method, or an alternate method.

At block 702, a source node is commissioned with a unique identifierthat is associated with an application. For example, a node 102 iscommissioned with a unique identifier (UID) that is associated with anapplication 316.

At block 704, the source node inserts data from the application into anapplication payload field of a packet. For example, the application 316provides data to the application layer 308, which the application layer308 inserts into the application payload 412 field of a packet 400.

At block 706, the source node generates a virtual address, using theunique identifier associated with the application, for a destinationaddress of the packet. For example, the node 102 generates a virtualaddress for the DST 410 of the packet 400 using the UID to generate thevirtual address.

At block 708, the source node inserts the virtual address into adestination address field of the mesh network packet, and at block 710,the source node publishes the packet by transmitting the packet to oneor more destination nodes in the mesh network. For example, the node 102inserts the virtual address into the DST 410 field of the packet 400 andthe node 102 publishes the packet by transmitting the packet 400 overthe mesh network 100.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example environment 800 in which the mesh network100 (as described with reference to FIG. 1), and embodiments of virtualaddressing for mesh networks can be implemented. Generally, theenvironment 800 includes the mesh network 100 implemented as part of asmart-home or other type of structure with any number and type of meshnetwork devices that are configured for communication in a mesh network.For example, the mesh network devices can include a thermostat 802,hazard detectors 804 (e.g., for smoke and/or carbon monoxide), cameras806 (e.g., indoor and outdoor), lighting units 808 (e.g., indoor andoutdoor), and any other types of mesh network devices 810 that areimplemented inside and/or outside of a structure 812 (e.g., in asmart-home environment). In this example, the mesh network devices canalso include any of the previously described devices, such as a node102.

In the environment 800, any number of the mesh network devices can beimplemented for wireless interconnection to wirelessly communicate andinteract with each other. The mesh network devices are modular,intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected devices, which canintegrate seamlessly with each other and/or with a central server or acloud-computing system to provide any of a variety of useful smart-homeobjectives and implementations. An example of a mesh network device thatcan be implemented as any of the devices described herein is shown anddescribed with reference to FIG. 9.

In implementations, the thermostat 802 may include a Nest® LearningThermostat that detects ambient climate characteristics (e.g.,temperature and/or humidity) and controls a HVAC system in thesmart-home environment. The learning thermostat 802 and other smartdevices “learn” by capturing occupant settings to the devices. Forexample, the thermostat learns preferred temperature set-points formornings and evenings, and when the occupants of the structure areasleep or awake, as well as when the occupants are typically away or athome.

A hazard detector 804 can be implemented to detect the presence of ahazardous substance or a substance indicative of a hazardous substance(e.g., smoke, fire, or carbon monoxide). In examples of wirelessinterconnection, a hazard detector 804 may detect the presence of smoke,indicating a fire in the structure, in which case the hazard detectorthat first detects the smoke can broadcast a low-power wake-up signal toall of the connected mesh network devices. The other hazard detectors804 can then receive the broadcast wake-up signal and initiate ahigh-power state for hazard detection and to receive wirelesscommunications of alert messages. Further, the lighting units 808 canreceive the broadcast wake-up signal and activate in the region of thedetected hazard to illuminate and identify the problem area. In anotherexample, the lighting units 808 may activate in one illumination colorto indicate a problem area or region in the structure, such as for adetected fire or break-in, and activate in a different illuminationcolor to indicate safe regions and/or escape routes out of thestructure. In another example, a doorbell or door monitoring system mayinclude LEDs that flash yellow (or other color) when a presence isdetected, or flash red if an alarm is activated.

In various configurations, the mesh network devices 810 can include anentryway interface device that functions in coordination with anetwork-connected door lock system, and that detects and responds to aperson's approach to or departure from a location, such as an outer doorof the structure 812. The entryway interface device can interact withthe other mesh network devices based on whether someone has approachedor entered the smart-home environment. An entryway interface device cancontrol doorbell functionality, announce the approach or departure of aperson via audio or visual means, and control settings on a securitysystem, such as to activate or deactivate the security system whenoccupants come and go. The mesh network devices 810 can also includeother sensors and detectors, such as to detect ambient lightingconditions, detect room-occupancy states (e.g., with an occupancysensor), and control a power and/or dim state of one or more lights. Insome instances, the sensors and/or detectors may also control a powerstate or speed of a fan, such as a ceiling fan. Further, the sensorsand/or detectors may detect occupancy in a room or enclosure, andcontrol the supply of power to electrical outlets or devices, such as ifa room or the structure is unoccupied.

The mesh network devices 810 may also include connected appliancesand/or controlled systems, such as refrigerators, stoves and ovens,washers, dryers, air conditioners, pool heaters, irrigation systems,security systems, and so forth, as well as other electronic andcomputing devices, such as televisions, entertainment systems,computers, intercom systems, garage-door openers, ceiling fans, controlpanels, and the like. When plugged in, an appliance, device, or systemcan announce itself to the mesh network as described above, and can beautomatically integrated with the controls and devices of the meshnetwork, such as in the smart-home. It should be noted that the meshnetwork devices 810 may include devices physically located outside ofthe structure, but within wireless communication range, such as a devicecontrolling a swimming pool heater or an irrigation system.

The mesh network 100 includes a border router 814 that interfaces forcommunication with an external network, outside the mesh network 100.The border router 814 connects to an access point 816, which connects toa communication network 818, such as the Internet. A cloud service 820,which is connected via the communication network 818, provides servicesrelated to and/or using the devices within the mesh network 100. By wayof example, the cloud service 820 can include applications forconnecting end user devices, such as smart phones, tablets, and thelike, to devices in the mesh network, processing and presenting dataacquired in the mesh network 100 to end users, linking devices in one ormore mesh networks 100 to user accounts of the cloud service 820,provisioning and updating devices in the mesh network 100, and so forth.For example, a user can control the thermostat 802 and other meshnetwork devices in the smart-home environment using a network-connectedcomputer or portable device, such as a mobile phone or tablet device.Further, the mesh network devices can communicate information to anycentral server or cloud-computing system via the border router 814 andthe access point 816. The data communications can be carried out usingany of a variety of custom or standard wireless protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi,ZigBee for low power, BLE, 6LoWPAN, etc.) and/or by using any of avariety of custom or standard wired protocols (CAT6 Ethernet, HomePlug,etc.).

Any of the mesh network devices in the mesh network 100 can serve aslow-power and communication nodes to create the mesh network 100 in thesmart-home environment. Individual low-power nodes of the network canregularly send out messages regarding what they are sensing, and theother low-powered nodes in the environment—in addition to sending outtheir own messages—can repeat the messages, thereby communicating themessages from node to node (i.e., from device to device) throughout themesh network. The mesh network devices can be implemented to conservepower, particularly when battery-powered, utilizing low-poweredcommunication protocols to receive the messages, translate the messagesto other communication protocols, and send the translated messages toother nodes and/or to a central server or cloud-computing system. Forexample, an occupancy and/or ambient light sensor can detect an occupantin a room as well as measure the ambient light, and activate the lightsource when the ambient light sensor detects that the room is dark andwhen the occupancy sensor detects that someone is in the room. Further,the sensor can include a low-power wireless communication chip (e.g., aZigBee chip, a Bluetooth chip, a BLE chip, and so forth) that regularlysends out messages regarding the occupancy of the room and the amount oflight in the room, including instantaneous messages coincident with theoccupancy sensor detecting the presence of a person in the room. Asmentioned above, these messages may be sent wirelessly, using the meshnetwork, from node to node (i.e., smart device to smart device) withinthe smart-home environment as well as over the Internet to a centralserver or cloud-computing system.

In other configurations, various ones of the mesh network devices canfunction as “tripwires” for an alarm system in the smart-homeenvironment. For example, in the event a perpetrator circumventsdetection by alarm sensors located at windows, doors, and other entrypoints of the structure or environment, the alarm could still betriggered by receiving an occupancy, motion, heat, sound, etc. messagefrom one or more of the low-powered mesh nodes in the mesh network. Inother implementations, the mesh network can be used to automaticallyturn on and off the lighting units 808 as a person transitions from roomto room in the structure. For example, the mesh network devices candetect the person's movement through the structure and communicatecorresponding messages via the nodes of the mesh network. Using themessages that indicate which rooms are occupied, other mesh networkdevices that receive the messages can activate and/or deactivateaccordingly. As referred to above, the mesh network can also be utilizedto provide exit lighting in the event of an emergency, such as byturning on the appropriate lighting units 808 that lead to a safe exit.The light units 808 may also be turned-on to indicate the directionalong an exit route that a person should travel to safely exit thestructure.

The various mesh network devices may also be implemented to integrateand communicate with wearable computing devices, such as may be used toidentify and locate an occupant of the structure, and adjust thetemperature, lighting, sound system, and the like accordingly. In otherimplementations, RFID sensing (e.g., a person having an RFID bracelet,necklace, or key fob), synthetic vision techniques (e.g., video camerasand face recognition processors), audio techniques (e.g., voice, soundpattern, vibration pattern recognition), ultrasound sensing/imagingtechniques, and infrared or near-field communication (NFC) techniques(e.g., a person wearing an infrared or NFC-capable smartphone), alongwith rules-based inference engines or artificial intelligence techniquesthat draw useful conclusions from the sensed information as to thelocation of an occupant in the structure or environment.

In other implementations, personal comfort-area networks, personalhealth-area networks, personal safety-area networks, and/or other suchhuman-facing functionalities of service robots can be enhanced bylogical integration with other mesh network devices and sensors in theenvironment according to rules-based inferencing techniques orartificial intelligence techniques for achieving better performance ofthese functionalities. In an example relating to a personal health-area,the system can detect whether a household pet is moving toward thecurrent location of an occupant (e.g., using any of the mesh networkdevices and sensors), along with rules-based inferencing and artificialintelligence techniques. Similarly, a hazard detector service robot canbe notified that the temperature and humidity levels are rising in akitchen, and temporarily raise a hazard detection threshold, such as asmoke detection threshold, under an inference that any small increasesin ambient smoke levels will most likely be due to cooking activity andnot due to a genuinely hazardous condition. Any service robot that isconfigured for any type of monitoring, detecting, and/or servicing canbe implemented as a mesh node device on the mesh network, conforming tothe wireless interconnection protocols for communicating on the meshnetwork.

The mesh network devices 810 may also include a smart alarm clock foreach of the individual occupants of the structure in the smart-homeenvironment. For example, an occupant can customize and set an alarmdevice for a wake time, such as for the next day or week. Artificialintelligence can be used to consider occupant responses to the alarmswhen they go off and make inferences about preferred sleep patterns overtime. An individual occupant can then be tracked in the mesh networkbased on a unique signature of the person, which is determined based ondata obtained from sensors located in the mesh network devices, such assensors that include ultrasonic sensors, passive IR sensors, and thelike. The unique signature of an occupant can be based on a combinationof patterns of movement, voice, height, size, etc., as well as usingfacial recognition techniques.

In an example of wireless interconnection, the wake time for anindividual can be associated with the thermostat 802 to control the HVACsystem in an efficient manner so as to pre-heat or cool the structure todesired sleeping and awake temperature settings. The preferred settingscan be learned over time, such as by capturing the temperatures set inthe thermostat before the person goes to sleep and upon waking up.Collected data may also include biometric indications of a person, suchas breathing patterns, heart rate, movement, etc., from which inferencesare made based on this data in combination with data that indicates whenthe person actually wakes up. Other mesh network devices can use thedata to provide other smart-home objectives, such as adjusting thethermostat 802 so as to pre-heat or cool the environment to a desiredsetting, and turning-on or turning-off the lights 808.

In implementations, the mesh network devices can also be utilized forsound, vibration, and/or motion sensing such as to detect running waterand determine inferences about water usage in a smart-home environmentbased on algorithms and mapping of the water usage and consumption. Thiscan be used to determine a signature or fingerprint of each water sourcein the home, and is also referred to as “audio fingerprinting waterusage.” Similarly, the mesh network devices can be utilized to detectthe subtle sound, vibration, and/or motion of unwanted pests, such asmice and other rodents, as well as by termites, cockroaches, and otherinsects. The system can then notify an occupant of the suspected pestsin the environment, such as with warning messages to help facilitateearly detection and prevention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example mesh network device 900 that can beimplemented as any of the mesh network devices in a mesh network inaccordance with one or more embodiments of virtual addressing for meshnetworks as described herein. The device 900 can be integrated withelectronic circuitry, microprocessors, memory, input output (I/O) logiccontrol, communication interfaces and components, as well as otherhardware, firmware, and/or software to implement the device in a meshnetwork.

In this example, the mesh network device 900 includes a low-powermicroprocessor 902 and a high-power microprocessor 904 (e.g.,microcontrollers or digital signal processors) that process executableinstructions. The device also includes an input-output (I/O) logiccontrol 906 (e.g., to include electronic circuitry). The microprocessorscan include components of an integrated circuit, programmable logicdevice, a logic device formed using one or more semiconductors, andother implementations in silicon and/or hardware, such as a processorand memory system implemented as a system-on-chip (SoC). Alternativelyor in addition, the device can be implemented with any one orcombination of software, hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitrythat may be implemented with processing and control circuits. Thelow-power microprocessor 902 and the high-power microprocessor 904 canalso support one or more different device functionalities of the device.For example, the high-power microprocessor 904 may executecomputationally intensive operations, whereas the low-powermicroprocessor 902 may manage less complex processes such as detecting ahazard or temperature from one or more sensors 908. The low-powerprocessor 902 may also wake or initialize the high-power processor 904for computationally intensive processes.

The one or more sensors 908 can be implemented to detect variousproperties such as acceleration, temperature, humidity, water, suppliedpower, proximity, external motion, device motion, sound signals,ultrasound signals, light signals, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide,global-positioning-satellite (GPS) signals, radio-frequency (RF), otherelectromagnetic signals or fields, or the like. As such, the sensors 908may include any one or a combination of temperature sensors, humiditysensors, hazard-related sensors, other environmental sensors,accelerometers, microphones, optical sensors up to and including cameras(e.g., charged coupled-device or video cameras, active or passiveradiation sensors, GPS receivers, and radio frequency identificationdetectors. In implementations, the mesh network device 900 may includeone or more primary sensors, as well as one or more secondary sensors,such as primary sensors that sense data central to the core operation ofthe device (e.g., sensing a temperature in a thermostat or sensing smokein a smoke detector), while the secondary sensors may sense other typesof data (e.g., motion, light or sound), which can be used forenergy-efficiency objectives or smart-operation objectives.

The mesh network device 900 includes a memory device controller 910 anda memory device 912, such as any type of a nonvolatile memory and/orother suitable electronic data storage device. The mesh network device900 can also include various firmware and/or software, such as anoperating system 914 that is maintained as computer executableinstructions by the memory and executed by a microprocessor. The devicesoftware may also include an addressing application 916 that implementsembodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks. The mesh networkdevice 900 also includes a device interface 918 to interface withanother device or peripheral component, and includes an integrated databus 920 that couples the various components of the mesh network devicefor data communication between the components. The data bus in the meshnetwork device may also be implemented as any one or a combination ofdifferent bus structures and/or bus architectures.

The device interface 918 may receive input from a user and/or provideinformation to the user (e.g., as a user interface), and a receivedinput can be used to determine a setting. The device interface 918 mayalso include mechanical or virtual components that respond to a userinput. For example, the user can mechanically move a sliding orrotatable component, or the motion along a touchpad may be detected, andsuch motions may correspond to a setting adjustment of the device.Physical and virtual movable user-interface components can allow theuser to set a setting along a portion of an apparent continuum. Thedevice interface 918 may also receive inputs from any number ofperipherals, such as buttons, a keypad, a switch, a microphone, and animager (e.g., a camera device).

The mesh network device 900 can include network interfaces 922, such asa mesh network interface for communication with other mesh networkdevices in a mesh network, and an external network interface for networkcommunication, such as via the Internet. The mesh network device 900also includes wireless radio systems 924 for wireless communication withother mesh network devices via the mesh network interface and formultiple, different wireless communications systems. The wireless radiosystems 924 may include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth™, Mobile Broadband, and/orpoint-to-point IEEE 802.15.4. Each of the different radio systems caninclude a radio device, antenna, and chipset that is implemented for aparticular wireless communications technology. The mesh network device900 also includes a power source 926, such as a battery and/or toconnect the device to line voltage. An AC power source may also be usedto charge the battery of the device.

Although embodiments of virtual addressing for mesh networks have beendescribed in language specific to features and/or methods, the subjectof the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specificfeatures or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methodsare disclosed as example implementations of virtual addressing for meshnetworks, and other equivalent features and methods are intended to bewithin the scope of the appended claims. Further, various differentembodiments are described and it is to be appreciated that eachdescribed embodiment can be implemented independently or in connectionwith one or more other described embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of virtual addressing in a mesh networkby a mesh network device implemented as a sensor node, the methodcomprising: hashing a unique identifier (UID) to form a UID hash byhashing the UID and a virtual address salt using a Cipher-based MessageAuthentication Code (CMAC) to generate the UID hash, the UID beingassociated with an application; generating a key identifier, whichidentifies an application key that is associated with the application,by hashing the application key and a key-identifier salt using the CMACto produce a first hash result, and hashing the first hash result and avirtual address key salt using the CMAC; and forming a virtual addressincluding concatenating an address type indicator and a portion of theUID hash; inserting the virtual address in a destination address fieldof a header of a packet; inserting a sensor reading in an applicationpayload field in the packet; and transmitting the packet over the meshnetwork.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the insertion of the virtualaddress in the packet is effective to enable authentication of thevirtual address by one or more mesh network devices that subscribe todata published to the UID.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the addresstype indicator indicates the destination address in the destinationaddress field is a virtual address.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe mesh network is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network, and whereinthe packet is a BLE advertisement packet.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the transmission of the packet is effective to enable relayingthe packet by a node in the mesh network.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the insertion of the virtual address is effective to enable anode at a destination address to authenticate the packet.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the application publishes data to the UID orsubscribes to data published using the UID.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the UID is one of a 128-bit Universally Unique Identifier(UUID), a 64-bit Extended Unique Identifier (EUI-64), a 48-bit MediaAccess Control address (MAC-48), a 32-bit address, a 128-bit IPv6address, a radio interface address, null-terminated string or label, ora JPEG image.
 9. A method of virtual addressing in a mesh network by adestination node, the method comprising: receiving, by the destinationnode, a packet over the mesh network; determining that an address typeindicator indicates that a destination address in a destination addressfield of the packet includes a virtual address; disambiguating thevirtual address in the received packet, the disambiguation using aunique identifier (UID) to determine that the virtual addresscorresponds to a known UID that is provisioned to the destination nodeby comparing hashes to disambiguate that there is a mapping of thevirtual address to the known UID; and authenticating a packet payloadusing the UID as additional data, a successful authentication of thepacket payload indicating that the virtual address is correctlyaddressing the destination node.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein thepacket is received from a source node, and wherein the source node thegenerates the virtual address for the received packet.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the virtual address is associated with an applicationthat uses capabilities of the source node or uses capabilities of thedestination node.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the mesh network isa Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network, and wherein the packet is a BLEadvertisement packet.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the UID is oneof a 128-bit Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), a 64-bit ExtendedUnique Identifier (EUI-64), a 48-bit Media Access Control address(MAC-48), a 32-bit address, a 128-bit IPv6 address, a radio interfaceaddress, null-terminated string or label, or a JPEG image.
 14. A methodof virtual addressing in a mesh network by a source node, the methodcomprising: hashing, by the source node, a unique identifier (UID) toform a UID hash; generating a key identifier that identifies anencryption key associated with the UID; setting an address typeindicator to indicate that a destination address is a virtual address;forming the virtual address including concatenating the address typeindicator and a portion of the UID hash; inserting the virtual addressin a destination address field of a header of a packet; and transmittingthe packet over the mesh network to a destination node, the transmittingdirecting the destination mesh network device to: determine that theaddress type indicator indicates that the destination address in thedestination address field of the packet includes the virtual address;disambiguate the virtual address in the received packet, thedisambiguation using the UID to determine that the virtual addresscorresponds to a known UID that is provisioned to the destination node;and authenticate a packet payload using the UID as additional data. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein, to disambiguate the virtual address,the destination node is configured to compare hashes to disambiguatethat there is a mapping of the virtual address to the known UID, andwherein successful authentication of the packet payload indicates thatthe virtual address is correctly addressing the destination node. 16.The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the packet over a meshnetwork to the destination node further comprises: transmitting thepacket to a relay node in the mesh network that is configured to:receive the transmitted packet from the source node; and relay thereceived packet, using the mesh network, wherein the destination nodereceives the relayed packet.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein thevirtual address is associated with an application that uses capabilitiesof the source node or uses capabilities of the destination node.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the application publishes data to the UID orsubscribes to data published using the UID.
 19. The method of claim 14,wherein the destination node is provisioned with multiple UIDs, whereinto disambiguate the virtual address in the packet, the destination nodeis configured to disambiguate the virtual address for each of themultiple UIDs, and wherein each of the multiple UIDs is associated witha different application.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the meshnetwork is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network, and wherein the packetis a BLE advertisement packet.